973.7LG3      Cudv/orth,    Warren   H. 

D2CS93e 

Eulogy  on  the  Life, 
Character  and  Public 
Services  of  the  Late 
President  Abraham 
Lincoln. 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


EULOGY 


ON  THE 


Ifife,  Cljarattn"  aittr  ^xiMk  Srrbixjes 


OF   THE   LATE   PRESIDENT 


ABRAHAM     LIJSTCOL^, 


DELIVERED    BEFORE 


Council  No.  33,  Union  League  of  America, 


AT 


SUMiNER  HALL,  EAST  BOSTON,  MAY  8,  1865, 


BY 


Rev.    warren   H.    CUDWORTH 


WITH   A 


RECORD    OF    THE    OTHER    PROCEEDINGS,    AND    A    DESCRIPTION    OF 
THE  DECORATIONS  PUT   UP  FOR  THE  OCCASION. 


Printed  by   vote    of  the    Council, 


BOSTON: 

WRIGHT    &    POTTER,    PRINTERS,    4    SPRING    LANE. 

18  6  5. 


E  IT  L  O  G-  T 


ON   THE 


Itife,  €Ijitntcte  mxi)  ^uirlk  Si^itias 


OF   THE   LATE  PRESIDENT 


ABEAHAM    LII^COLN, 


DELIVERED   BEFORE 

Council  ]^o.  33,  Union  League  of  America, 

AT 

SUMNER  HALL,  EAST  BOSTON,  MAY  8,  1865, 

BY 

Rev.   warren   H.   CUDWORTH: 

WITH  A 

EECORD    OF    THE   OTHER   PROCEEDINGS,   AND   A   DESCRIPTION    OF 
THE  DECORATIONS  PUT  UP  FOR  THE  OCCASION. 


Printed   hy   vote    of  the    C ouncil. 


BOSTON: 

WRIGHT    &    POTTER,    PRINTERS,    4    SPRING    LANE. 

1865. 


At  a  meeting  of  Council  No.  33,  held  ApTil  24th,  at  Union  Hall,  East 
Boston,  it  was  voted  that  a  Committee  be  chosen  to  invite  Rev.  "W.  H. 
CuD-«-ORTH  to  deliver  an  Eulogy  on  the  "Life,  Character,  and  Public  Ser- 
vices of  the  late  President  Abraham  Lincoln,"  and  make  all  arrangements 
necessary  for  carrying  the  vote  into  execution.  G.  \f.  Spear,  Andrew 
Hall,  and  J.  H.  Dalton,  vrere  appointed  that  Committee. 


f; 


7/^  J  -^/^^       ■  '      ^-^  ^^ 


BECORD  OF  PROCEEDINGS. 


The  Committee  waited  upon  Mr.  Cudworth  and  secured  his 
services,  obtained  Sumner  Hall,  on  Elbow  Street,  for  the 
accommodation  of  members  of  the  Council  and  their  friends, 
appointed  Monday,  May  8th,  for  the  proposed  tribute,  and 
prepared  the  following 

PROGRAMME  OF  EXERCISES. 

1.  Tramp,  Tramp,  Tramp,  "  The  prisoner's  hope."     Words 
and  music  by  George  F.  Root. 

In  the  prison  cell  I  sit, 

Thinking  mother  dear,  of  you, 

And  our  bright  and  happy  home  so  far  away  ;  ^ 

And  the  tears  they  fill  my  eyes 

Spite  of  all  that  I  can  do, 

Tho'  I  try  to  cheer  my  comrades  and  be  gay. 

Tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  the  boys  are  marching, 

Cheer  up  comrades,  they  will  come. 

And  beneath  the  starry  flag 

We  shall  breathe  the  air  again. 

Of  the  free  land  in  our  own  beloved  home. 

In  the  battle  front  we  stood 
When  their  fiercest  charge  they  made, 
And  they  swept  us  ofi"  a  hundred  men  or  more  ; 
But  before  we  reached  their  lines 
They  were  beaten  back  dismayed. 
And  we  heard  the  cry  of  vict'ry  o'er  and  o'er. 
Tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  &c. 

So  within  the  prison  cell, 
We  are  waiting  for  the  day 
That  shall  come  to  open  wide  the  iron  door. 
And  the  hollow  eye  grows  bright. 
And  the  poor  heart  almost  gay. 
As  we  think  of  seeing  home  and  friends  once  more. 
Tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  &c. 


2.  Address.     By  the  President. 

3.  Dirge.     Words   and  music  by  J.  W.  Turner,  of  East 

Boston. 

I. 

Mournful !     O,  tearful !     Columbia  to-day  ! 
Sorrow  and  sadness  obscuring  the  way, 
Millions  of  freemen  all  tremulous  tell 
Tlie  tidings  that  have  our  loved  country  befell. 

Mournful !     0,  tearful !     Columbia  to-day, 

The  chief  of  our  nation  has  faded  away. 

II. 

Thus  has  a  patriot,  the  good  and  the  great. 
The  head  of  the  nation,  our  dear  magistrate ; 
Struck  down  in  life  by  a  murderous  hand, 
The  true  martyr'd  chief  of  our  great  Union  band. 
Mournful!     0,  tearful,  &c. 

III. 

"Weep  !     O,  Columbia !     your  tears  long  will  lave 
The  grave  of  the  fallen,  the  "honest"  and  brave  ; 
.  His  mem'ry  will  live  'till  time  is  no  more, 

And  nations  of  earth  his  loss  will  deplore. 
Mournful !     O,  tearful,  «S;c. 

4.  Eulogy. 

5.  America.     Sung  by  the  audience. 

Tlie  East  Boston  Sumner  Glee  Club  furnished  and  led  the 
singing. 

This  club  is  composed  of  the  following  gentlemen  :  Leonard 
F.  Merrill,  Charles  C.  Cooper,  Frank  Leavitt,  Thomas  F.  Craig, 
James  E.  Merrill. 

The  decorations,  put  up  by  Col.  William  Beal  and  the 
committee  of  arrangements,  were  as  follows  : — 


'G^ 


Over  the  entrance  was  displayed  a  large  banner  bearing  the 
names, 

Washington.  Jefferson.  Jackson. 


At  the  right  of  this  was  a  second  banner,  inscribed  with  the 
names  of 

Grant.  Sheridan.  Butler. 

At  the  left  was  a  third,  having  upon  it 

Sherman.         Burnside.  Banks. 

Both  sides  of  the  hall  were  adorned  with  large  American 
flags  drawn  up  over  the  windows  and  festooned  so  as  to  fall 
gracefully  towards  the  floor. 

All  the  pillars  were  covered  with  black  and  white  drapery, 
while  from  the  centre  of  the  ceiling,  red,  white  and  blue 
streamers,  intermixed  with  the  emblems  of  mourning,  hung 
pendant  and  were  caught  up  at  the  corners  of  the  hall. 

Before  the  centre  of  the  stage  was  a  large  American  eagle 
with  extended  wings,  holding  aloft  a  cluster-  of  flags  fringed 
with  black,  flanked  on  either  side  by  black  and  white  drapery 
interspersed. 

The  speaker's  stand  was  profusely  adorned  with  silk  flags 
which  fell  in  graceful  folds  on  all  sides,  directly  in  the  rear  of 
which  was  a  snow-white  monument,  half  concealed  in  black 
silk  lace  and  crape,  upon  the  front  face  of  which  was  a  beauti- 
ful wreath  of  immortelle. 

Just  above  the  monument  was  a  superb  crayon  portrait  of 
President  Lincoln,  and  higher  still  a  black  cloth  shield  having 
in  silver  letters  the  inscription — 

A.      LINCOLN, 
DiedAprill5, 

1865. 

In  rear  of  the  stage  on  either  side  wl3re  memorial  arches 
standing  on  pillars  supporting  the  flag,  and  bearing  on  a  dark 
ground  in  large  silver  letters,  on  the  right — 

the'    nation    mourns. 
On  the  left— 

HONOR   TO   THE   DEPARTED. 


At  the  right  and  left,  flags  were  arranged  in  pyramidal 
shape,  having  heavy  black  borders,  and  almost  speaking  the 
sorrow  of  which  they  were  only  the  mute  and  touching 
emblems. 

The  large  audience  present  were  united  in  their  commenda- 
tion of  the  propriety  and  good  taste  shown  throughout  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  decorations. 

The  brief  Address  of  the  President,  Samuel  T.  Cobb,  Esq., 
was  feelingly  delivered  and  exceedingly  appropriate ;  and  the 
singing  by  the  Sumner  Glee  Club  was  very  effective. 


EULOGY. 


Mr.  President,   Officers  and  Members  of  the    Union  Leag-ue, 

and  Friends  : 

You  have  elected  me  to  a  task,  the  difficulty  of  which  is  not 
to  know  what  to  say,  but  how  to  condense  within  any  reason- 
able period  of  time  what  ought  to  be  said. 

With  you  all,  I  feel  it  to  be  utterly  impossible  to  make  language 
express  the  appreciation,  gratitude  and  reverence  filling  all 
loyal  hearts  toward  our  deceased  Chief  Magistrate,  and  esteem  the 
irrepressible  tears  and  the  spontaneous  testimonials  of  the  people, 
a  tribute  of  profounder  significance,  and  far  greater  worth  than 
the  most  glowing  words  admiration  can  prepare.  What  the 
eulogist  may  utter  has  been  made  ready  beforehand,  and  to 
some  extent  must  be  artificial.  The  attention  of  this  audience 
may  be  a  matter  of  form  or  courtesy,  and  nothing  more.  But 
the  shock  of  horror  felt  in  every  State,  city,  town,  village,  and 
loyal  heart,  when  the  trembling  wires  spread  news  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's assassination,  the  uncontrollable  outburst  of  grief  and 
anguish  which  the  fearful  tidings  caused,  the  wail  of  sorrow 
spreading  from  street  to  street,  from  mart  to  mart,  and  from 
house  to  house,  which  bespoke  a  sense  of  personal  tribulation, 
making  strong  men  stand  still  suddenly  in  the  very  pathway 
of  vigorous  business  activity,  and  weep  b'itier,  burning  tears ; 
the  gloom  of  despondency  which  spread  its  pall  over  every  com- 
munity, drawing  down  the  starry  banner  from  its  proud  mast- 
head of  triumph  and  glory  to  the  place  of  lamentation,  stamp- 
ing sadness  on  every  face,  calling  forth  the  insignia  of  mourning 
from  countless  abodes  of  life  and  labor,  and  making  even  school 
children,  dismissed  from  their  daily  tasks,  walk  slowly  and 
softly  through  the  streets,  as  though  each  one  of  them  had  a 


8 

dear,  loved  friend  dead  at  home, — these  were  testimonials  of 
bereavement  which  the  student  of  history  will  ponder  far  more 
than  he  will  the  eloquent  language  of  praise,  or  the  carefully 
prepared  offerings  of  studied  and  elaborate  laudation. 

What  the  people  have  done  of  their  own  free  will  and  accord, 
— the  people  who  loved  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  whom  he  loved, 
— is  far  more  and  far  better  than  anything  his  eulogists  can  do, 
and  will  be  quoted  to  his  honor  long  after  their  words  shall  have 
been  forgotten. 

Those  who  spring  from  the  people  are  not  always  true  to 
their  interests,  or  willing  to  acknowledge  the  humility  of  their 
own  origin.  Not  a  trace  of  this  unworthy  pride  can  he  be 
accused  of  having  exhibited.  Master  of  the  White  House  in 
Washington,  he  was  the  same  genial,  frank,  unpretending  man 
he  had  been  in  his  father's  log  cabin  on  the  Sangamon  River, 
Illinois,  thirty  years  before. 

To  him  belongs  the  credit  of  having  worked  his  way  up  from 
tiie  humblest  position  an  American  freeman  can  occupy,  to  the 
highest  and  most  powerful,  without  losing  in  the  least  the  sim- 
plicity and  sincerity  of  nature  which  endeared  him  alike  to  the 
plantation  slave  and  the  metropolitan  millionaire. 

He  was  born  in  Elizabethtown,  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  on 
the  12th  of  February,  1809.  His  parents  were  very  poor,  and 
barely  managed  to  get  along. 

He  was  a' dutiful  and  industrious  son,  and  contributed  to  the 
support  of  the  family  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  work.  His  time 
was  so  fully  occupied  cultivating  corn  and  securing  subsistence 
for  the  common  support,  that  there  was  none  left  for  the  sowing 
of  wild  oats.  He  was  fond  of  study  and  books,  and  improved 
all  his  leisure  moments  in  storing  his  mind  with  valuable 
information. 

In  1816,  the  family  moved  to  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  and 
in  1830  to  Macon  County,  Illinois.  All  this  time  he  did  what- 
ever came  in  his  way  that  could  contribute  to  the  general  wel- 
fare ;  cut  down  trees  and  shaped  them  into  logs  for  the  family 
residence,  helped  manufacture  chairs,  tables,  bedsteads  and 
other  articles  of  rude  household  furniture  ;  split  rails  to  fence 
in  the  ten  acre  lot  selected  for  the  family  farm ;  cleared  up  the 
land ;  engaged  as  day  laborer  in  a  neighboring  saw-mill ;  worked 
as  a  common  hand  upon  the  flat  boats  that  floated  down  the 


Wabash  and  Mississippi  Rivers  to  New  Orleans ;  went  hunting 
for  deer  and  wild  turkeys  with  which  the  region  abounded  ; 
engaged  in  storekeeping,  then  in  surveying ;  Yohinteered  as  a 
captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  re-enlisted  twice  as  a  private, 
shrinking  from  no  danger  or  hardships,  first  to  go  and  last  to 
return  ;  and  finally,  in  1835,  having  been  elected  representative 
to  the  legislature  of  Illinois,  concluded  to  study  law  and  settle 
in  Springfield,  the  capital  of  the  State. 

Ilis  practice  at  the  bar  did  not  withdraw  him  from  politics, 
however,  and  for  twenty  years  he  was  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial champions  of  whig  principles  in  Illinois,  several  times  made 
presidential  elector,  and  appointed  in  1846  representative  to 
Congress.  While  a  member  of  this  body,  the  famous  "  Wilmot 
Proviso  "  was  introduced.  It  sprang  from  a  motion  to  place 
two  millions  of  dollars  in  the  hands  of  President  Polk,  pending 
peace  arrangements  with  Mexico,  and  read,  "  Provided,  that,  as 
an  express  and  fundamental  condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any 
territory  from  the  republic  of  Mexico  by  the  United  States,  by 
virtue  of  any  treaty  which  may  be  negotiated  between  them, 
and  to  the  use  of  the  Executive  of  the  moneys  herein  appro- 
priated, neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  ever 
exist  in  any  part  of  said  territory,  except  for  crime,  whereof  the 
party  shall  first  be  duly  convicted."  During  the  fierce  and 
angry  debates  which  ensued,  Mr.  Lincoln  came  out  emphati- 
cally in  favor  of  the  Proviso,  and  voted  for  its  passage  forty-two 
times  in  succession.  .  He  associated  himself  openly  and  fearlessly 
with  leading  abolitionists  in  Congress,  comprising  such  men  as 
Messrs.  Chase,  Giddings,  and  Seward ;  took  strong  ground 
against  the  constitutionality  of  the  Mexican  war,  protesting  and 
voting  in  opposition  to  the  bill  which  granted  to  volunteers  for 
this  war  160  acres  of  the  public  land,  besides  their  pay.  He 
became  at  once  a  marked  and  prominent  man  ;  one  of  the 
acknowledged  leaders  of  the  Henry  Clay  whigs  of  the  West, 
and  in  1849  was  nominated  by  members  of  the  Illinois  legisla- 
ture for  United  States  senator. 

Though  recipient  of  a  strong  vote,  it  was  not  sufficient  to 
secure  his  election,  and  Gen.  Shields,  the  democratic  candidate,, 
was  sent. 

Undismayed  by  failure,  and  confident  that  right  must  ulti- 
mately triumph  over  wrong,  even  in  American  politics,  he  set 


10 

himself  to  work  in  1852,  in  behalf  of  General  Scott ;  allowed 
his  name  to  be  used  for  the  United  States  Senate  again,  in  1855  ; 
gave  the  whole  power  of  his  influence  in  favor  of  Fremont,  in 
1856,  heading  the  Illinois  electoral  ticket  in  his  favor,  and 
entered  the  lists  in  1858  against  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the 
"Little  Giant"  of  Western  democracy,  following  or  preceding 
him  all  over  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  worsting  him  so  thoroughly 
in  every  encounter,  that  hundreds  of  his  adherents  were  won 
over  to  the  cause  of  his  adversaries. 

It  was  during  this  remarkable  campaign  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
revealed  those  sterling  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which  fixed 
him  most  firmly  in  the  affections  and  confidence  of  the  people. 
His  speeches  were  always  received  with  favor,  sometimes  with 
vociferous  applause  and  uncontrollable  enthusiasm.  His  aim 
was  plain  as  a  marksman's,  and  liis  words  went  as  straight  to 
the  understandings  and  common  sense  of  his  auditors  as  a  shot 
to  a  target.  He  espoused  a  high  tariff,  proved  the  necessity  of 
a  thorough  protective  policy,  advocated  the  rights  of  colored 
men  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  denounced 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  plead  for  the  immortal  principles 
contained  in  tlie  Declaration  of  Independence  with  a  pathos  and 
eloquence  which  carried  everything  before  them. 

"  Now  my  countrymen,"  he  said,  "  if  you  have  been  taught  doctrines 
conflicting  with  the  great  landmarks  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ; 
if  you  have  listened  to  suggestions  Avhich  would  take  away  from  its 
grandeur,  and  mutilate  the  fair  symmetry  of  its  proportions, — let  me 
entreat  you  to  come  back,  return  to  the  fountain  whose  waters  spring 
close  by  the  blood  of  the  Revolution.  Think  nothing  of  me ;  take  no 
thought  for  the  political  fate  of  any  man  whomsoever.  It  is  nothing  ; 
I  am  nothing ;  Judge  Douglas  is  nothing.  But  do  not  destroy  that 
immortal  emblem  of  humanity,  the  Declaration  of  American  Inde- 
pendence." 

Like  other  prominent  public  men  he  foresaw  that  the  country 
was  on  the  eve  of  a  great  national  convulsion,  and  as  early  as 
June  17, 1858,  predicted  the  "  irrepressible  conflict,"  which,  dur- 
ing the  last  four  years,  has  caused  such  lavish  expenditures  of 
blood  and  treasure  throughout  the  land.  "  In  my  opinion,"  he 
declared,  in  a  speech  at  Springfield,  "  slavery  agitation  will  not 
cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  A  house 


11 

divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  This  government  cannot 
endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect 
the  Union  to  be  dissolved.  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall. 
But  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all 
one  thing  or  all  the  other." 

Regarding  this  important  question  he  would  have  no  one 
mistake  his  opinions,  and  of  them  made  repeated  and  explicit 
avowals.  In  Chicago,  July  16,  1858,  he  said,  "  I  have  always 
hated  slavery  as  much  as  any  abolitionist.  I  have  been  an 
Old  Line  whig.  I  always  hated  it,  and  always  believed  it  in 
course  of  ultimate  extinction.  If  I  were  in  Congress,  and  a 
vote  should  come  up  on  a  question,  whether  slavery  should  be 
prohibited  in  a  new  territory, — in  spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
I  would  vote  that  it  should." 

Though  not  elected  to  the  Senate  after  the  exciting  canvass 
of  1858,  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  abate  one  iota  of  his  assurance  of 
the  final  spread  and  triumph  of  republicanism.  His  convictions 
were  like  prophecies,  and  he  worked  as  though  entering  upon 
their  fulfilment. 

During  1859  and  1860,  although  in  comparative  retirement, 
he  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  great  questions  of  freedom 
and  slavery,  union  and  secession.  State  rights  and  constitutional 
obligations,  which  were  agitating  this  country  from  centre  to 
circumference,  and  after  his  nomination  to  the  presidency  in 
Chicago,  May  18th,  1860,  confined  himself  no  longer  within  the 
limits  of  his  adopted  State,  but  began  his  appeals  for  freedom 
and  the  Union  throughout  the  Middle  and  Eastern,  as  well  as 
the  Western  States. 

Wherever  he  went  he  made  friends.  The  people  felt  that  he 
deserved  the  title  "  Honest  Abe,"  which  had  been  conferred 
upon  him  at  home.  If  any  one  could  be  safely  trusted  with  the 
destinies  of  the  country  at  the  most  critical  juncture  of  affairs 
through  which  it  had  ever  passed,  they  became  convinced  that 
he  was  the  man.  Friends  of  Seward,  Fremont,  Chase,  Cameron, 
Bates,  and  Dayton,  all  united  on  him,  therefore,  and  uniting 
they  elected  him. 

His  simplicity,  humility  and  entire  lack  of  personal  conceit, 
were  almost  without  a  precedent  among  politicians,  and  it  must 
be  confessed  somewhat  disappointed  the  more  ardent  or  artful 
of  his  friends.     He  was  not  given  to  diplomacy  in  the  least,  had 


12 

no  taste  for  the  trickery  of  wire-pullers  and  log-rolling,  no  heart 
for  button-hole  and  lobby  legislation.  What  he  felt  he  said, 
and  what  he  said  he  meant.  He  was  a  plain  man,  of  plain 
manners,  with  a  plain  object  before  him,  and  a  plain  way  of 
reaching  it.  Hence  he  avoided  all  flourishes  of  trumpets  when 
it  was  possible  to  do  so,  preferring  to  let  his  words  and  the 
cause  they  advocated,  stand  upon  their  own  merits,  and  abide 
the  sober  judgment  of  the  people. 

In  his  eager  pursuit  and  honest  advocacy  of  whatever  cause 
he  espoused,  he  seemed  to  forget  himself  and  care  only  for  the 
object  at  which  he  aimed.  Such  questions  as,  What  will  people 
think  of  it  ?  What  effect  will  it  have  upon  my  prospects  and 
reputation  ?  never  entered  his  mind.  Just  previous  to  the 
delivery  of  his  Cooper  Institute  address,  he  was  called  upon  to 
furnish  a  copy  for  the  next  morning's  paper.  Taken  all  aback, 
he  remonstrated  with  his  visitor  for  suggesting  such  a  thing, 
doubting  whether  any  paper  in  New  York  would  care  to  set  it 
up,  or,  if  published,  whether  the  people  would  take  the  trouble 
to  read  it. 

When  asked  if  he  or  his  agents  had  prepared  any  of  those 
brief  special  notices,  which  in  all  our  daily  papers  gently 
insinuate  that  the  public  had  better  think  well  of  something  or 
somebody  before  they  have  had  the  first  opportunity  to  think 
anything  at  all,  he  responded,  "  certainly  not,"  and  seemed 
entirely  unaware  that  such  charming  little  artifices  were  in 
common  use  among  candidates  for  popular  favor. 

While  visiting  the  institutions  of  New  York,  at  this  time,  he 
went  into  the  famous  asylum  at  Five  Points.  Not  being  known 
to  the  superintendent,  he  addressed  the  inmates  at  some  length 
in  his  peculiar,  straightforward  manner,  now  convulsing  them 
with  laughter,  and  then  melting  them  to  tears,  and  was  about 
taking  his  leave,  when  being  requested  to  put  his  name  upon 
the  visitor's  book,  he  simply  wrote  "Abraham  Lincoln,"  and 
passed  out  of  the  building.  • 

The  same  humble  estimate,  of  himself  marked  his  departure 
from  his  home  in  Springfield,  where,  having  resided  for  twenty- 
five  years,  he  was  regarded  not  only  with  confidence,  but  alsc 
with  affection.  The  multitude  that  had  gathered  together, 
among  whom  were  hundreds  of  personal  friends,  would  have  a 


13 

speech,  and  though  trembling  with  emotion,  caused  by  the  idea 
of  a  separation  that  might  be  final,  he  said : — 

"  No  one  can  appreciate  the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this 
people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  1  have  lived  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  Here  ray  children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies 
buried.  I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again  A  duty  devolves 
upon  me  which  is  perhaps  greater  than  that  which  has  devolved  upon 
any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never  would  have 
succeeded,  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon  wliich  he  at 
all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  /cannot  succeed  without  the  same  Divine 
aid  which  sustained  him  ;  and  in  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my 
reliance  for  support ;  and  I  hope  that  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray  that 
I  may  receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot  succeed, 
but  with  which  success  is  certain." 

Eyes  unaccustomed  to  weeping  were  wet  when  he  concluded  ; 
hearts  that  came  calm  to  witness  his  departure,  returned  strug- 
gling with  emotion  after  he  had  gone ;  and  from  hundreds  of 
lips,  unused  to  prayer,  broke  forth  that  day  the  supplicatory 
ejaculations,  God  bless  him,  and  shield  him,  and  help  him. 

Although  his  journey  from  Springfield  to  the  border  line 
between  freedom  and  slavery  was  made,  by  the  spontaneous 
offerings  of  the  people,  like  the  march  of  a  monarch  speeding  to 
his  coronation,  the  bands  and  banners,  bells  and  cannon, 
plaudits  and  welcomes  of  millions,  did  not  even  temporarily 
lull  him  into  forgetfulness  of  the  great  and  solemn  crisis  in 
which  he  had  been  called  to  act  so  prominent  and  important  a 
part.  He  thought  so  much  of  duty  that  he  was  never  intoxi- 
cated with  success.  He  repeated  over  and  over  again  the  burden 
of  his  speech  at  Springfield,  as  though  he  could  not  bear  to 
have  the  public  unconscious  of  the  momentous  events  hastening 
on  to  decide  at  once  and  forever  the  doom  of  the  Great  Republic 
of  America. 

"  It  is  true,"  he  said  to  the  Senate  of  Ohio,  "  that  very  great  responsi- 
bility rests  upon  me  in  the  position  to  which  the  votes  of  the  American 
people  have  called  me.  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  that  weighty  responsi- 
bility, /cannot  but  know  what  you  all  know,  that  without  a  name,  per- 
haps without  a  reason  why  I  should  have  a  name,  there  has  fallen  upon 
me  a  task  such  as  did  not  re-t  upon  the  '  Father  of  his  Country  ; '  and. 


14 

so  feeling,  I  cannot  but  turn,  then,  and  look  to  the  American  people,  and 
to  that  God  who  has  never  forsaken  them." 

In  such  a  spirit  he  -went  forward  to  the  National  Capital, 
followed  even  then  by  the  bloodhounds  of  treason  and  slavery, 
and  took  in  his  hands  the  helm  of  State.  Portentous  clouds, 
black  "with  sectional  hatred  and  party  rancor  loomed  up  North, 
and  East,  and  "West,  as  well  as  South  ;  before  him  fourteen  States 
and  six  millions  of  people,  malcontent,  wrathful,  defiant — 
gathering  munitions  of  war, — haughtily  spurning  his  authority, 
and  scoffing  at  his  remonstrances ;  behind  him  a  doubtful  con- 
stituency, an  empty  treasury,  a  dismantled  navy,  a  scattered 
army,  a  divided  Congress ;  on  one  side  a  score  or  so  of  hot- 
headed radicals,  pulling  him  frantically  forward ;  on  the  other, 
thousands  of  cool  conservatives,  holding  him  as  firmly  back  ; 
abroad,  sneers  and  chuckles  at  his  dilemma,  interspersed  with 
confident  predictions  of  speedy  overthrow,  or  insolent  threaten- 
ings  of  hostile  interference ;  at  home,  volumes  of  unsolicited 
advice,  warning  and  ridicule,  spiced  with  repeated  threats  of 
assassination  I  Who  but  one  possessing  the  will  of  a  martyr, 
the  nerve  of  a  hero,  the  devotion  of  a  saint,  and  the  strength 
of  a  giant,  could  have  endured  such  a  pressure  for  a  single 
month  ? 

He  was  all  these, — and  like  all  these,  declared  the  policy  he 
should  follow.  He  had  no  pet  projects  of  his  own  to  favor,  no 
attractive  novelties  to  recommend  for  others.  On  tlie  one  side 
he  would  not  be  forced  ahead  any  faster  than  he  felt  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  go ;  on  the  other  he  would  not  be  kept  back  an  instant 
when  the  time  had  fully  come  to  move.  He  would  not  recog- 
nize the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  as  maintained  by  foes  in  front 
or  traitors  in  the  rear,  but  steadfastly  insisted  upon  its  continu- 
ance and  acknowledgment  wherever  the  Constitution  and  laws 
had  once  held  sway.  His  first  inaugural  was  a  complete  expo- 
sition of  the  principles  of  his  administration,  and  is  the  best 
paper  to  read  even  now  for  obtaining  a  summary  of  his  convic- 
tions and  purposes.  It  assured  Southern  people  that  they  had 
no  ground  for  apprehension  or  hostility  ;  that  all  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution  should  be  rigorously  observed  until  lawfully 
amended,  even  to  that  obnoxious  clause  compelling  the  rendi- 
tion of  fugitive  slaves.     It  examined  the.  question  of  secession 


15 

• 

in  tlie  light  of  history,  by  the  teachings  of  experience,  and 
according  to  the  logic  of  government.  It  decided  that  no  State 
could  lawfully  secede,  appealed  to  Union  lovers  everywhere  to 
prevent  secession,  and  declared  that  the  Union  must  and  should 
be  maintained, — concluding  with  these  weighty  and  touching 
words : — 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is 
the  momentous  issue  of  civU  war.  The  government  will  not  assail  you. 
You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You 
have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  I 
shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  '  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.'  I 
am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  "We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our 
bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  chords  of  memory  stretching  from  every 
battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again 
touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

Never,  in  this,  or  any  other  land,  were  uttered  words  more 
elegant  and  felicitous.  They  fell  that  day,  alas,  upon  many 
ears  that  were  dull  of  hearing ;  but,  long  after  this  generation 
shall  have  passed  away,  they  will  be  quoted  among  the  finest 
passages  of  modern  literary  composition.  Nothing  evinces 
genius  and  greatness  more  than  clearness  and  precision  of 
speech,  combined  with  the  ability  of  making  a  few  words  convey 
a  great  deal  of  meaning.  In  this  respect  President  Lincoln 
was  never  excelled,  seldom  equalled,  by  the  distinguished 
speakers  of  the  country.  With  marvellous  discrimination  he 
grasped  the  strong  points  of  every  subject  brought  to  his  notice, 
and  presented  them  briefly  in  lucid  and  forcible  language.  Few 
are  the  intellects  so  feeble  as  to  be  bewildered  by  his  public 
statements  and  addresses  ;  none  so  great  as  to  better  the  garb 
he  choose  to  carry  his  views  to  the  minds  of  the  people. 

Everything  he  has  ever  said,  everything  he  has  ever  written, 
will  ere  long  be  gathered  together  and  presented  to  the  country 
he  lived  and  labored  and  died  to  serve.  His  words  will  circu- 
late from  the  north-east  boundary  line  of  Maine,  across  the  broad 
prairies  of  the  West,  and  far  beyond  the  Eocky  Mountains  to 
the  shores  of  Oregon,  and  the  golden  sands  of  California. 
Pioneers  will  read  them  in  their  forest  huts  or  hillside  homes^. 


16 

far  removed  from  the  life  and  stir  of  human,  habitations  ;  miners 
repeat  them  to  each  other  as  they  develop  the  mineral  and 
metallic  wealth  of  the  lands  he  has  helped  to  free  for  their 
inheritance ;  merchants  will  quote  them  in  the  same  breath 
■with  the  best  maxims  of  Poor  Richard  the  sagacious ;  and 
mechanics  ponder  their  meaning  with  pleasure  and  profit  united. 
Nay,  even  planters,  converted  to  freedom,  will  own  that  he  icnew 
better  than  they  what  was  best  for  the  nation,  and  teach  their 
children  to  rise  up  and  call  him,  "  blessed."  Shall  I  quote  a 
few  of  these  words  spoken  before  Independence  Hall,  Philadel- 
phia, in  February,  1861,  and  tell  you  how  the  people  felt  them  ? 
He  was  to  hoist  a  new  flag,  with  thirty-four  stars,  to  the  crest 
of  the  staff  surmounting  the  roof.  Holding  in  his  hand  the 
halyard,  he  said — 

"  Each  additional  star  added  to  that  flag  has  given  additional  pros- 
perity and  happiness  to  this  country,  until  it  has  advanced  to  its  present' 
condition ;  and  its  welfare  in  the  future,  as  well  as  in  the  past,  is  in  your 
hands.  Cultivating  the  spirit  that  animated  our  fathers,  who  gave 
renown  and  celebrity  to  this  hall,  cherishing  that  fraternal  feeling  which 
has  so  long  characterized  us  as  a  nation,  excluding  passion,  ill-temper, 
and  precipitate  action  on  all  occasions,  I  think  we  may  promise  ourselves 
that  additional  stars  shall  from  time  to  time  be  placed  upon  that  flag,  until 
we  shall  number,  as  was  anticipated  by  the  great  historian,  five  hundred 
millions  of  happy  and  prosperous  people." 

Every  eye  was  strained  with  expectation,  and  every  throat 
with  shouting.  The  cheers  of  the  people  were  like  tlie  roar  of 
waves  which  would  not  cease  to  break.  For  full  three  minutes 
they  continued  without  interruption,  while  the  President  stood 
in  an  attitude  of  silent  solemnity.  His  arms  were  then  quickly 
extended,  each  hand  pulled  alternately  at  the  halyards,  and  a 
bundle  of  tricolored  bunting  which  had  never  kissed  the  wind 
before,  rose  slowly  towards  heaven.  If  the  cheering  liad  been 
enthusiastic  previously,  now  it  was  absolutely  frantic.  From 
the  smallest  urchin  in  the  crowd  to  the  tall  form  which  rivalled 
the  President's  in  compass  of  chest  and  strength  of  limb,  there 
rose  one  wild  tumultuous  cry.  Suddenly,  the  glorious  emblem 
of  liberty  and  union,  having  reached  the  summit  of  the  mast, 
unrolled  all  at  once,  and  flashed  in  the  sunlight,  bathing  the 
roof;  cannon  thundered  through  the  street;  men  leaped  and 


17 

stamped  and  shouted ;  the  crowd  swayed  to  and  fro  as  if  the 
very  earth  were  heaving  iDcneath  them,  and  the  old  hall  rang 
again  and  again  with  the  repeated  cheers  of  its  new  consecration 
to  freedom  and  equal  rights. 

What  President  Lincoln  was  during  those  few  moments  of 
patriotic  exertion,  raising  and  holding  aloft  the  stars  and  stripes 
before  the  eyes  of  all  the  people,  so  he  continued  for  the  whole 
four  years  of  his  subsequent  career.  During  the  dark  days 
which  succeeded  Bull  Kun  first  and  second,  Fredericksburg  and 
Chancellorsville,  he  never  despaired  of  the  Republic.  During 
all  the  misunderstandings  and  conflicts  of  opinion  which  arose 
between  him  and  such  men  as  Cameron,  Fremont,  Hunter, 
McClellan  and  Seymour,  he  kept  steadily  on  towards  the  object 
at  which  he  had  aimed  from  the  beginning,  turning  neither  to  the 
right  hand  to  notice  ridicule,  nor  to  the  left  to  rebut  calumny. 
When  he  warned  the  rebels  of  confiscation  of  property  and 
emancipation  of  slaves  unless  they  returned  to  their  allegiance, 
his  opposers  loudly  boasted  that  he  would  never  dare  to  institute 
such  measures,  and  even  his  friends  feared  he  would  lack  the 
spirit  to  carry  them  out.  But  at  the  appointed  time  the  pro- 
clamation was  issued,  and  the  act  became  a  law.  Even  then  it 
was  laughed  at,  denominated  "  Brutum  fulmen^''  a  harmless 
thunderbolt,  and  a  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet.  But  he  car- 
ried it  out  even  to  the  victory  at  Gettysburg,  to  the  capture  of 
Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  to  the  campaign  through  the  Wil- 
derness, to  the  conquest  of  Charleston,  Savannah,  Richmond, 
Mobile,  and  every  fort  and  town  in  rebel  possession  ;  to  the  sur- 
render and  dispersion  of  Lee's  army,  Johnston's  army.  Hood's 
army,  and  Bragg's  army ;  he  would  have  carried  it  out,  had  he 
lived,  to  the  thorough  pacification  and  restoration  of  the  rebel 
States,  to  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  to  the  extension  of  freedom 
to  every  human  being  in  the  land. 

Such  elements  entered  into  the  composition  of  his  character 
as  precisely  to  adapt  him  to  the  sphere  he  was  to  fill,  and  the 
work  he  was  to  do.  Never  was  fact  more  manifest,  than  that 
he  was  providentially  raised  up  and  fitted  for  the  office  he  held 
and  the  trust  he  assumed.  He  needed  first,  decision  of  char- 
acter, and  had  it.  Although  he  hated  slavery,  he  had  sworn  to 
support  the  Constitution  which  favored  slavery,  and  not  the 
first  step  would  he  take  or  allow  to  be  taken  against  it,  until  it 
2 


18 


became  an  indispensable  military  necessity.  So,  when  General 
Fremont  attempted  emancipation,  he  forbade  it,  because  the 
time  had  not  yet  come  ;  when  General  Hunter  made  the  same 
experiment  in  South  Carolina,  he  was  promptly  relieved  of  his 
command,  and  his  order  revoked;  when  General  Cameron 
urged  in  tlic  strongest  manner  the  arming  of  the  blacks,  he  said, 
"  No ;  it  is  not  yet  an  indispensable  military  necessity."  Not 
till  July,  1862,  when  he  urged  the  border  States  to  favor  com- 
pensated emancipation,  and  they  refused,  did  he  say.  Now  the 
time  has  come.  Let  us  arm  the  blacks,  let  us  free  the  blacks ; 
for  it  has  become  an  indispensable  military  necessity. 

It  was  a  remarkable  feature  in  his  character  that  having  made 
up  his  mind  upon  any  matter,  he  never  swerved  a  hair.  Judge 
Douglas  himself  acknowledged  that  when  once  he  came  to  a 
conclusion  he  was  not  to  be  withdrawn  from  it  by  artifice, 
coaxed  from  it  by  persuasion,  or  driven  from  it  by  force. 

In  the  summer  of  1834,  having  been  elected  for  the  first  time 
member  of  the  Illinois  legislature,  he  was  expected  to  "  treat." 
His  friends  came  hot  and  thirsty  from  the  polls,  bringing  the 
usual  crowd  with  them,  talking  over  the  election,  telling  how 
it  was  managed,  and  cheering  lustily  for  the  successful  candi- 
date. "  Of  course,  you  must  treat,"  whispered  an  intimate 
friend  into  one  ear,  "  for  these  men  all  voted  for  you."  "  Of 
course,"  chimed  in  another,  in  the  other  ear,  "  for  they  expect 
it."  But  the  sturdy  young  representative  shook  his  head,  and 
responded,  "  Of  course  7iot,  gentlemen ;  plenty  to  eat,  and 
plenty  of  tea,- coffee  and  water  to  drink,  but  not  a  drop  of  rum 
or  whiskey  do  you  receive  from  me." 

Volunteering  having  failed  to  supply  men  for  our  armies  as 
fast  as  they  were  needed,  it  became  evident  in  1863  that  a  draft 
was  inevitable.  "  It  will  never  do ;  we  cannot  survive  it ;  it 
will  divide  the  North,  distract  the  country,  and  ruin  us  all." 
Such  were  some  of  the  milder  remonstrances  with  which  the 
press  at  first  abounded  ;  while  the  phrases,  "  unparalleled  abuse 
of  power,  unmitigated  tyranny,  relentless  despotism,  subversion 
of  popular  liberties,"  and  the  like,  were  still  stronger  intimida- 
tions thrown  out  by  copperheads  against  the  measure.  But  the 
draft  came,  and  was  executed ;  it  came  again'  and  again,  and  it 
was  evidently  Mr.  Lincoln's  determination  to  arm  the  last  man 
upon  whom  he  could  lay  his  hand,  and  spend  the  last  dollar  he 


19 

could  raise,  before  he  would  concede  a  particle  to  rebels  and 
traitors  in  arms  against  the  government.  Again,  the  capture  of 
Mason  and  Slidell  sent  a  thrill  of  delight  all  over  the  country, 
in  which  no  doubt  the  President  fully  shared.  But  there  were 
intimation^  that  England  would  demand  their  release,  or 
consider  their  retention  a  "  casus  belliJ^  She  did  so,  and  not- 
withstanding the  outcry  made  against  it,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  them 
up.  Such  was  his  decision  of  character.  Equally  marked  in 
the  second  place  was  his  force  of  character.  Force  of  character 
makes  a  person  prompt,  quick,  energetic  and  ready ;  and  never 
was  it  more  needed  by  mortal  man  than  when  Mr.  Lincoln  went 
to  "Washington,  and  found  everything  to  do,  nothing  to  do  it 
with,  and  hardly  anybody  to  help  him.  When  the  First  Regi- 
ment arrived  in  that  city,  June  17th,  1861,  they  found  no  bar- 
racks, no  tents,  no  rooms  prepared  for  their  reception,  no 
rations  obtained  for  their  subsistence,  and  no  idea  apparent  what 
they  were  to  do,  where  they  were  to  go,  or  what  they  had  come 
there  to  accomplish.  The  officers  had  to  buy  food  for  their 
men,  and  at  last  procured  shelter  for  them  in  a  vacant  building 
on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  which  they  filled  like  bees  in  a  hive 
from  cellar  to  attic.  Such  was  the  condition  of  things  through- 
out the  capital.  Buchanan  and'his  perjured  cabinet  had  liter- 
ally cleaned  it  out.  Without  troops,  without  arms,  without 
means,  without  credit,  without  sympathy  abroad  or  harmony  at 
home,  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  White  House  was  truly  like  a  pioneer 
in  the  woods,  with  nothing  but  his  axe  and  his  hands. 

But  he  had  been  in  the  woods  before,  and  gotten  out  of  them. 
He  gathered  about  liim  a  circle  of  noble,  devoted  and  industrious 
men.  They  went  to  work.  They  organized  an  army,  manu- 
factured a  navy,  established  troops  upon  the  enemy's  soil,  built 
up  the  national  credit  till  they  filled  the  treasury,  brought 
order  out  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  profited  by  defeat  so  that 
it  became  better  than  victory,  cheered  the  loyal  and  intimidated 
the  treasonable  at  home,  enlightened  the  ignorant  and  cowed 
the  inimical  abroad,  set  all  the  forges  blazing  and  all  the  wheels 
of  industry  humming  throughout  the  North,  caused  money  to 
be  more  plentiful  and  business  more  brisk  than  they  had  been 
for  years  before,  and  finally  made  success  a  certainty.  Of  all 
these  great  achievements  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  principal  cause. 
He  arose  early  every  morning,  attending  to  his  extensive  private 


20 

correspondence  before  breakfast,  devoted  himself  to  business 
and  callers  throughout  the  day,  was  closeted  with  his  cabinet 
hour  after  hour  twice  a  week,  and  up  until  eleven  or  twelve  at 
night,  calling  upon  Secretary  Seward,  Secretary  Stanton,  Secre- 
tary Welles,  or  General  Halleck,  full  of  a  restless  energy  and 
indomitable  fervor.  On  one  occasion,  wishing  to  consult  with 
General  Scott,  lie  started  off  post  haste  to  New  York  alone,  had 
his  interview,  and  returned  within  three  days.  Three  or  four 
times  a  year  he  would  visit  the  soldiers,  going  through  all  the 
exhaustion  of  a  great  review,  and  returning  to  his  post  fresh  as 
ever.  When  it  was  necessary  to  make  arrests  of  prominent 
individuals,  like  Marshal  Kane  and  Yallandigham,  he  did  not 
hesitate  an  instant  to  do  so,  although  they  were  called  "  arbi- 
trary." When  military  exigencies  required  the  removal  of 
unsuccessful  leaders,  like  McClellan,  Fremont,  and  Pope,  they 
were  at  once  displaced.  Into  everything  he  touched  he  infused 
his  own  vitality  and  force,  forming  his  plans  with  a  sagacity  and 
foresight  which  seemed  almost  supernatural,  waiting  with  an 
infinite  patience  for  them  to  ripen  and  mature,  but  then  hasten- 
ing them  through  with  all  possible  despatch.  Having  such 
force  of  character,  he  had  also, united  with  it  what  is  rarely  seen 
combined,  an  equal  degree  of  strength  of  character.  Strength 
of  character  underlies  steadiness  and  persistency.  Force  of 
character  causes  ebullition,  effervescence,  froth ;  strength  of 
character,  perseverance,  invincible  determination,  resolute  and 
continuous  endeavor.  Force  is  a  prominent  trait  among  South- 
erners ;  strength  among  Northerners.  Southerners  will  be  all 
day  massing  their  forces  to  fight  a  battle,  and  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  make  a  furious  onslaught,  threatening  to  carry 
all  before  them ;  failing  in  which,  they  will  try  it  again,  even 
more  furiously,  and  finally  fall  back  and  give  up.  Northerners 
will  commence  fighting  at  daylight,  continue  till  dark,  and  no 
matter  how  unsuccessful,  begin  the  next  morning  just  as  early 
and  earnestly  as  ever. 

Tliat  is  the  way  we  have  crushed  rebellion, — by  our  strength. 
General  Grant  is  the  very  impersonation  of  this  element  in 
military  affairs.  A  year  ago  he  drew  the  line  of  final  and 
assured  success,  and  ever  since  he  has  been  fighting  it  out  on 
that  line,  until  he  has  fought  the  rebel  Confederacy  entirely  out 
of  sight.     Its  cities  have  fallen,  its  leader  has  fled,  its  armies 


21 

and  navy  have  disappeared,  its  munitions  of  war  are  destroyed, 
its  flags  will  ere  long  be  folded  and  furled  forever. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  shown  a  remarkable  degree  of  this  quality 
from  boyhood  up,  and  never  did  he  need  it  more  than  during 
the  four  years  succeeding  his  election  to  the  presidency. 

He  has  had  all  sorts  of  men  to  deal  with,  and  been  exposed 
to  all  sorts  of  influences  to  make  him  swerve  from  the  line  of 
policy  which  he  had  adopted  in  the  beginning ;  he  has  been 
flattered  and  lampooned,  praised  and  threatened,  coaxed  and 
derided.  To-day  men  from  the  border  States,  to-morrow  men 
from  the  free  States,  traitors  and  friends,  tricksters  and  patriots, 
demagogues  and  saints,  have  thronged  his  doors,  crowded  his 
reception  room,  and  poured  their  appeals,  their  criticisms,  or 
their  complaints,  into  his  ears.  He  has  listened  to  them  all, 
responded  when  needful,  kept  his  own  counsel  in  the  main,  and 
invariably  carried  out  his  own  convictions. 

It  was  this  quality,  more  than  all  others,  that  made  him  the 
idol  of  the  people.  They  felt  that  he  was  acting  not  for  himself, 
but  for  them  and  for  the  country.  What  he  believed  in,  they 
knew  he  would  stand  by,  no  matter  how  great  the  cost.  He 
became,  therefore,  without  exception,  the  most  popular  man  in 
the  nation,  and  won  for  himself  an  amount  of  confidence  and 
affection,  that  even  the  immortal  Washington  failed  to  inspire. 
The  most  dangerous  thing  he  did  was  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  The  very  suggestion  that  he  might  do  it,  raised 
such  an  outcry  all  over  the  land  as  had  never  been  heard  before, 
and  when  in  spite  of  denunciation  and  abuse  he  went  forward 
and  did  it,  one  would  have  supposed  from  the  lamentations 
of  his  enemies  that  law  and  liberty  had  both  been  slain  and 
buried  together.  He  knew  he  was  acting  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  Constitution,  however,  and  having  sworn  that  its  pro- 
visions should  faithfully  be  executed,  he  merely  fulfilled  the 
obligations  of  his  oath,  and  left  consequences  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  shrank  from  col- 
lision with  public  men,  civil  and  military,  and  was  willing  to 
concede  everything  that  could  reasonably  be  expected,  to  con- 
tinue on  good  terms  with  all.  But  when  convinced  that  duty 
required  him  to  pursue  an  opposite  course,  no  personal  consid- 
erations were  allowed  to  weigh  a  moment  with  him.  His  cor- 
respondence with  General  McClellan  before  relieving  him  of 
2* 


10 


his  command,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  his 
administration,  not  only  as  exhibiting  the  untiring  resolution  of 
his  nature,  but  as  showing  him  to  be  possessed  of  military 
genius  in  an  extraordinary  and  unusual  degree.  Long  before 
McClellan  adopted  the  plan,  President  Lincoln  urged  him  to 
divide  his  army  into  corps,  so  that  the  men  might  be  handled 
with  greater  ease  and  readiness,  and  every  good  military  author- 
ity endorsed  the  plan.  In  the  spring  of  1862,  he  insisted  upon 
McClellan's  taking  Yorktown  by  assault,  instead  of  subjecting 
his  immense  army  to  the  demoralization  of  a  month  or  six  weeks' 
siege.  Subsequent  events  proved  that  the  rebel  Magruder  only 
had  5,000  men  when  the  assault  was  urged,  and  that  if  it  had 
been  made  the  place  would  have  been  carried  with  ease,  and 
they  all  taken  prisoners  of  war. 

After  the  great  battle  of  Antietam  the  President  was  greatly 
annoyed  at  the  dallying  and  delay  which  used  up  unspeakably 
precious  time,  and  sent  the  telegram  to  McClellan,  "  Your 
army  must  move  now  while  the  roads  are  good."  In  a  few  days 
he  forwarded  him  a  letter,  giving  the  reasons  for  his  order, 
which  has  not  its  equal  in  the  literature  of  the  war.  "  Are  you 
not  overcautious,"  he  asks,  "  when  you  assume  that  you  can- 
not do  what  the  enemy  is  constantly  doing  ?  One  of  the  stand- 
ard maxims  of  war,  as  you  know,  is,  to  operate  upon  the  enemy's 
communications  as  much  as  possible  without  exposing  your  own. 
You  seem  to  act  as  if  this  applied  against  you,  but  cannot  apply 
in  your  favor.  You  are  now  nearer  Richmond  than  the  enemy 
is,  by  the  route  that  you  can  and  he  must  take.  Why  can  you 
not  reach  there  before  him,  unless  you  admit  that  he  is  more 
than  your  equal  on  a  march  ?  His  route  is  the  arc  of  a  circle, 
while  yours  is  the  chord.  The  roads  are  as  good  on  yours  as 
on  his.  At  least  try  to  beat  him  to  Richmond  on  the  inside 
track,  I  say  try  :  if  we  never  try,  we  shall  never  succeed.  If 
he  make  a  stand  at  Winchester,  I  would  fight  him  there,  on  the 
idea,  that  if  we  cannot  beat  him  when  he  bears  the  wastage  of 
coming  to  us,  we  never  can  when  we  bear  the  wastage  of  going 
to  him.  As  we  must  beat  him  somewhere  or  fail  finally,  we 
can  do  it,  if  at  all,  easier  near  to  us  than  far  away.  It  is  all 
easy  if  our  troops  march  as  well  as  the  enemy,  and  it  is  unmanly 
to  say  that  they  cannot  do  it."  Several  other  letters  passed 
between  them,  and  finally  McClellan  was  relieved. 


23 

No  eulogist  should  omit  to  mention  in  the  fourth  place,  his 
purity  of  character.  He  has  left  behind  a  name  upon  which 
rests  not  the  least  taint  or  shadow  of  insincerity.  Honest, 
straightforward,  plain-spoken  as  when  he  entered  upon  his 
office,  he  continued  to  the  day  of  his  death.  The  most  malig- 
nant party  opposition  has  never  been  able  to  call  in  question 
the  patriotism  of  his  motives,  or  tarnish  with  the  breath  of  sus- 
picion the  brightness  of  his  spotless  fidelity.  Ambition  did  not 
warp,  power  corrupt,  nor  glory  dazzle  him.  He  felt  that  he 
was  called  of  God  to  the  administration  of  a  great  public  trust, 
and  what  he  did,  he  evidently  tried  to  do  as  unto  God  and  not 
unto  man. 

His  faith  in  Divine  Providence  seemed  like  the  assurance  of 
positive  knowledge.  In  a  letter  penned  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1864,  he  writes  : — 

"  I  attempt  no  compliment  to  my  own  sagacity,  I  claim  not  to  have 
controlled  events,  but  confess  plainly  that  events  have  controlled  me. 
Now  at  the  end  of  three  years'  struggle,  the  nation's  condition  is  not 
what  either  party  or  any  man  devised  or  expected :  God  alone  can  claim 
it.  Whither  it  is  tending,  seems  plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  removal 
of  a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as  you  of 
the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that  wrong,  impartial 
history  will  find  therein  new  cause  to  attest  and  revere  the  justice  and 
goodness  of  God." 

His  purity  of  character  found  constant  expression  in  words 
similar  to  these.  He  evidently  realized  that  he  was  acting  not 
for  himself,  but  for  God,  for  the  nation,  for  the  future.  To  the 
Old  School  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Baltimore,  he  said  : — 

•"I  was  early  brought  to  a  lively  reflection,  that  nothing  in  my  power 
whatever,  or  others,  to  rely  upon,  would  succeed,  without  the  direct 
assistance  of  the  Almighty.  I  have  often  wished  that  I  was  a  more 
devout  man  than  I  am;  nevertheless,  amid  the  greatest  difficulties  of  my 
administration,  when  I  could  not  see  any  other  resort,  I  would  place  my 
whole  reliance  in  God,  knowing  all  would  go  well,  and  that  he  would 
decide  for  the  right." 

Similar  addresses  he  made  to  the  New  School  Presbyterians, 
the  National  Conference  of  Methodists,  and  the  General  Asso- 


24 

ciatiou  of  Baptists.  These  words  evidently  came  from  the 
depths  of  his  soul,  and  were  not  spoken  to  conciliate  the  favor 
of  powerful  religious  bodies. 

He  was  every  morning  in  the  habit  of  reading  the  word  of 
God,  and  asking  at  the  throne  of  Grace,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?  "  He  did  not  ask  in  vain,  and  his  noble  career 
supplies  believers  with  fresh  proof  that  "  the  Lord  God  is  a  sun 
and  a  shield,  and  blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  Him." 

His  kindness  of  heart,  in  the  next  place,  led  him  to  manifest 
a  tender  and  generous  interest  in  all  about  him. 

Three  little  girls,  daughters  of  a  Washington  mechanic,  came 
to  one  of  his  public  receptions,  and  were  going  to  pass  without 
offering  him  their  hands,  not  supposing  that  he  would  take 
them.  But  he  exclaimed,  "  Little  girls,  are  you  going  to  pass 
me  without  shaking  hands  ? "  and,  bending  forward,  warmly 
shook  each  timid  little  hand,  to  the  manifest  delight  of  every 
one  in  the  room. 

A  negro  porter  in  one  of  the  departments  was  sick  of  small- 
pox in  the  hospital,  and  could  not  draw  his  pay  because  unable 
to  sign  his  name.  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  of  the  case,  at  considera- 
ble trouble  overcame  the  difficulty,  and  saw  the  man  furnished 
with  everything  he  desired.  One  of  the  New  York  volunteers 
having  died  in  the  hospital  of  his  wounds,  desired  that  his 
crutch  might  be  sent  to  his  wife  for  a  memorial  of  him.  Mr. 
Lincoln  attended  to  his  request,  and  sent  with  it  fifty  dollars 
from  his  own  purse.  After  the  fall  of  Charleston,  hearing  that 
an  old  friend  had  been  reduced  from  affluence  to  poverty,  he 
forwarded  a  similar  sum  to  him.  No  wonder  he  has  left  his 
family,  as  it  were,  almost  dependent ;  for  of  his  time,  strength 
and  money,  he  spared  nothing,  so  long  as  he  had  any  to  give 
for  the  benefit  of  others.  While  visiting  our  wounded  soldiers 
after  tlic  sanguinary  battle  of  Antietam,  he  came,  in  one  of  the 
hospitals,  upon  a  number  of  rebels.  He  said  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  shake  hands  with  them  if  they  had  no  objections  ; 
that  he  bore  them  no  ill-will  as  men  ;  that  his  solemn  obliga- 
tions to  the  nation  and  the  future,  compelled  the  prosecution  of 
the  war,  and  made  many  enemies  through  uncontrollable  cir- 
cumstances ;  but  personally  he  felt  sympathy  and  sorrow  for 
their  misfortune.  Not  a  man  that  could  move  but  silently  and 
fervently  shook  his  hand. 


25 

The  thought,  that  being  President  of  the  United  States,  he 
was  better  than  other  men,  seems  never  to  have  entered  his 
mind,  for  he  treated  every  loyal  and  respectable  man,  without 
reference  to  his  wealth  and  social  standing,  with  the  considera- 
tion due  an  equal. 

But,  in  conclusion,  the  brightest  jewel  in  his  crown,  was  his 
steady,  uncompromising,  unconditional  opposition  to  slavery. 
This  he  saw  to  be  the  mother  of  treason,  the  author  of  secession, 
the  source  of  collision,  trouble  and  suffering,  the  cause  of 
degradation  and  discord,  North  as  well  as  South. 

Bound  by  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  he  held  fast 
to  his  integrity.  Assured,  sooner  or  later,  of  an  opportunity  to 
carry  out  his  heart's  desire,  he  awaited  his  time  with  a  modera- 
tion and  self-control  which  challenge  the  admiration  of  man- 
kind. Radicals  got  out  of  all  patience  with  him,  called  him 
"  slow,  heavy,  behind  the  times,"  and  dared  to  hint  that  he 
might  be  induced  after  all  to  make  terms  with  the  rebels,  and 
allow  them  to  leave  the  Union,  taking  slavery  with  them,  to 
establish  it  perpetually  in  the  new  nation  they  were  fighting  to 
uphold.  Conservatives,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained  that  he 
was  faster  than  was  warranted  by  the  development  of  events, 
and  urged  him  to  withhold  his  signature,  first  from  the  bill 
abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  then  from  the 
statute  prohibiting  its  introduction  into  any  part  of  the  public 
territorial  domains ;  from  the  death  warrant  of  Gordon,  the 
New  York  slave  trader ;  from  the  act  of  amnesty,  making  liberty 
the  corner-stone  of  reconstruction ;  from  the  order  enrolling 
colored  men  as  soldiers  ;  from  the  recognition  of  Hayti  and 
Liberia  ;  and  finally,  from  the  famous  Proclamation  of  Emanci- 
pation, keystone  to  a  grander  arch  of  patriotic  acts  than  any 
statesman  ever  built  before  in  any  land  on  earth. 

But  forced  ahead  no  faster  than  conviction  urged  him  on, 
kept  back  no  longer  than  necessity  required  him  to  tarry,  he 
gave  all  his  advisers  the  notice  of  attention,  then  marked  out 
and  trod  his  own  chosen  path.  At  the  outset  he  declared  that 
God  had  made  the  rebels  greater  emancipators  than  we  all,  and 
would  overrule  the  madness  of  their  frantic  efforts  to  secure  the 
perpetuation  of  slavery,  for  its  final  and  complete  extinction. 
He  was  in  no  hurry,  therefore,  to  see  the  process  consummated, 
knowing  that  society  could  not  pass  through  the  convulsions  of 


26 

such  an  experience  without  tlic  infliction  of  great  suffering  upon 
the  parties  most  concerned.  He  had  thought  and  sorrow  for 
them  even,  amid  all  the  triumph  of  his  great  achievements,  and 
the  gladness  of  his  brilliant  success. 

He  has  been  permitted,  like  Moses  of  old,  to  lead  us  to  the 
borders  of  tlie  promised  land  ;  to  see  a  race  more  numerous 
than  our  revolutionary  fathers  when  they  fought  for  liberty, 
disenthralled  from  the  bondage  of  centuries,  and  allowed  an 
equal,  rightful  share  in  the  blessings  of  a  free  and  united  coun- 
try ;  to  sign  the  great  amendment,  which  though  not  yet  a  law, 
must  soon  become  the  law  and  boast  of  every  State  in  the 
Union,  and  to  remove  from  our  land  the  stain  paralyzing  so 
long  its  energies  at  home,  and  neutralizing  so  completely  its 
influence  abroad. 

The  last  great  efibrt  of  pro-slavery  despotism  has  been  made, 
and  failed.  Henceforth  throughout  the  world  it  will  be  under- 
stood, as  never  l^,efore,  that  the  strong  cannot  safely  crush  the 
weak,  nor  the  proud  and  powerful  oppress  the  lowly.  Hence- 
forth there  must  be  practical  and  judicial  recognition  of 
Heaven's  highQr  law,  that  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  that  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  he  careth  for 
all  alike,"  and  henceforth,  first  upon  the  roll  of  man's  noblest 
benefactors,  "  one  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names  that  were 
not  born  to  die,"  will  stand  the  honored  name  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  !  upholder  and  defender  of  the  Union,  purifier  of  the 
Constitution,  friend  and  emancipator  of  the  oppressed,  the  peo- 
ple's choice  and  champion ;  fearless  amid  dangers,  steadfast  in 
uncertainties,  uncorrupted  by  temptation,  faithful  in  trial  as  in 
triumph,  faithful  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  faithful  in  life, 
faithful  even  unto  death  !  the  noblest  patriot,  the  purest  poli- 
tician, the  grandest  man,  the  greatest  benefactor,  the  most 
glorious  martyr,  of  the  age. 

How  fitly  says  the  poet  Bryant — 

Oh,  slow  to  smite  and  swift  to  spare, 

Gentle,  and  merciful  and  just ! 
Who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  didst  bear 

The  sword  of  power,  a  nation's  trust. 

In  sorrow  by  thy  bier  we  stand, 
Amid  the  awe  that  hushes  all. 


27    ■ 

And  speak  the  anguish  of  a  land 
That  shook  with  horror  at  thy  fall. 

Thy  task  is  done  ;  the  bond  are  free  ; 

We  bear  thee  to  an  honored  grave, 
Whose  noblest  monument  shall  be 

The  broken  fetters  of  the  slave. 

Pure  was  thy  life ;  its  bloody  close 

Hath  placed  thee  with  the  sons  of  light, 

Among  the  noble  host  of  those 

Who  perished  in  the  cause  of  right ! 


At  the   conclusion  of  the  Eulogy  the   audience  united  in 
singing  "  America,"  with  the  well  known  hymn — 

My  country  I     'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  Liberty,— 

Of  thee,  I  sing. 
Land  where  my  fathers  died  ; 
Land  of  the  pilgrims'  pride  ; 
From  every  mountain-side 

Let  Freedom  ring ! 

My  native  country  !    thee — 
Land  of  the  noble  free — 

Thy  name  I  love. 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills  ; 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills  ; 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills, 

Like  that  above. 

Let  music  swell  the  breeze. 
And  ring  from  all  the  trees 

Sweet  Freedom's  song : 
Let  mortal  tongues  awake. 
Let  all  that  breathe  partake. 
Let  rocks  their  silence  break, 

The  sound  prolong. 

Our  Fathers'  God !    to  Thee— 
Author  of  Liberty ! 

To  Thee,  we  sing. 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
AVith  Freedom's  holy  light — 
Protect  us  by  thy  might. 

Great  God,  our  King ! 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

973  7L63D2C893E  C001 

EULOGY  ON  THE  LIFE,  CHARACTER  AND  PUBLIC 


3  0112  031809186 


